Widdowson in his first major part with Bern-Ballett last Thursday night (photo©2011, Stadttheater/Philipp Zinniker)
Family and police press conference Tuesday evening 8 November
BERN, SWITZERLAND -A 23-year-old man was arrested Wednesday in Broadway, Roath, Cardiff and charged with assault and robbery following an incident in the early hours of Saturday 4 November that left a 19-year-old in critical condition.
Jack Widdowson, a member of Bern:Ballett which performs at the city’s Stadttheatre, is in critical condition, possibly with a broken neck, following the brutal attack in Cardiff city centre in Wales. The attack occurred about 00:45 Saturday and appears to have happened after a man befriended him in the docks area and suggested a shortcut. Widdowson’s iPhone and other possessions were stolen and have not been recovered, according to Cardiff police.
“Police believe Mr Widdowson was targeted during a night out in the city centre with his brother, a former semi-professional rugby player who is now studying at Cardiff University,” Walesonline reports. “It is believed his attacker befriended him as he walked in the vicinity of Bute Terrace around 00.45am, before leading him to a canal-side footpath where he was brutally mugged and assaulted.”
Police continue to ask the public for help in the investigation (details and contact).
The young dancer had recovered three years earlier from a severe case of meningitis, according to the news site, and had danced with a London company before joining Bern:Ballett. His family lives in Bath, England.
His father, Dr Julian Widdowson, is head of sports medicine at Premiership Rugby Club in Bath.
He told the Daily Mail that Jack was able to use dancing, which he had started in his early teens, to control one weakness left over from the bacterial meningitis attack, a tremor in his upper limbs.
He had recovered from the illness through what his father told the Daily Mail was a “punishing programme of rehab”, noting that Jack had always been active in sports, representing his school in hockey and in rugby, playing as a prop.
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND - The referee did his best to spoil the Rugby World Cup semi-final between Wales and France in the 18th minute,15 October. Welsh captain Sam Warburton was given a red card for a dangerous tackle when he upended a French player in an exuberant way but one which barely justified a yellow card, and certainly not a red. The Welsh fourteen held the French, scored the only try of the game and could have won had one of their kicks succeeded. Francois Pienaar, ex-captain of the World Cup winning Springboks was livid while commentating: accusing the ref of killing the game and allowing one of the weaker teams of the World Cup to get through to the final. Even the French TV commentators seemed rather apologetic about playing weakly but still going through, where the French team will meet either the New Zealand All Blacks or the Australian Wallabies.
Links to other sites: Rugby World Cup, Guardian, Telegraph
WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND – The Rugby World Cup came down to the final four after some hard fought matches, 9th and 10th October. Australia edged past the current champions, South Africa 11-9 in a closely fought and bruising encounter. New Zealand had to struggle in the first half but then upped the tempo to beat Argentina 33-10. The Saturday games saw a revived French team sweep past a disappointing England 19-12 while Wales put on a fine show to beat Ireland 22-10. The semi-finals will feature the All-Blacks against the Wallabies and Wales face the much improved French side.
Links to other sites: Rugby World Cup, Telegraph
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND – The preliminary stage of the Rugby World Cup ended on 2 October and it is already certain that the semi-finals and the final, to be held 23 October at 10:00 Swiss time, will be contests between the Northern and Southern hemispheres. England secured top place in Pool B and sent Scotland home early with a narrow and stodgy 16-12 win over their northern neighbours. France looked out of form as they were beaten 14-19 by Tonga but still qualified as second behind New Zealand in Pool A. England will now face France for the third sussessive World Cup: the English won the last two. Argentina came second in the group and will face the mighty All Blacks next. South Africa won all their games to win Pool D and will now meet Australia. Wales came second in the Pool after losing by a single point to South Africa but were in awesome form as they swept past Fiji 60-0. They next play Ireland, which beat Australia on the way to the top of Pool C.
Links to other sites: Rugby World Cup, Telegraph,
BASEL, SWITZERLAND – Xherdan Shaqiri, not yet 20 years old, played the kind of football Tuesday night 6 September that the Swiss team will be happy to see more of, as he leads Switzerland towards the next round of European 2012 qualifying matches. Switzerland defeated Bulgaria 3-1 in front of close to 17,000 spectators in a match that saw Shaqiri scoring a hat trick, with left- and right-footed goals that showed the FC Basel forward at his best.
Switzerland now plays Wales in an away game 7 October. England defeated Wales Tuesday 1-0. Montenegro, ahead of Switzerland by three points in Group G, now plays England 7 October, then comes to Switzerland. The Swiss now have 8 points, compared to Montenegro’s 11 and powerhouse England’s 17.
Detailed reports: Houston Chronicle/AP, 24 Heures (Fre), Uefa standings
International sports, Six Nations rugby
Twickenham, London (GenevaLunch)- England put on a solid but uninspired performance to get past Scotland 22-16, 13 March. The English team have dominated their games this season but were held 9-9 at half-time and never really got going in the second till a try by Tom Croft. The win leaves the team top of the Six Nations race and if they beat Ireland in Dublin 19 March it will mean a Grand Slam.
Italy scored their first ever Six Nations win over France, winning by 22-21 with Bergamasco kicking 17 points. The French trainer responded by dropping six players for the final game against Wales, and stated that some had played their last game for France. Wales were lucky to beat Ireland 19-13 when the Welsh scored from a quick but illegal throw in from a line-out.
Links to other sites: Six Nations, L’Equipe
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution in North Wales had an extra dose of attention Thursday when Britain’s Prince William came with his bride-to-be Kate Middleton to help with the naming ceremony for a new lifeboat. The outing for the couple was the first official one for the prince’s fiancee and cameras went to work on what promises to be the first of a deluge of royal photos in 2011. Photo album, The Globe & Mail, Canada
International sports, Six Nations rugby
Twickenham, London (GenevaLunch) - Chris Ashton scored four tries as an impressive England team crushed Italy 53-13 at Twickenham, 12 February. The winger ran powerfully in supporting positions and never gave the Italian team a chance to settle. Ashton is the first player to score four tries in one England game since 1914, when Ronald Poulton did so against France. England will hope that Ashton can do as well in the showdown against France at Twickenham, 26 February. France were a little lucky to edge past Ireland 22-25 in an exciting but rather scrappy game where the Irish made most of the running but made too many errors. Wales beat Scotland 6-24, winning their first game in the last nine contests.
Links to other sites: Six Nations, Telegraph, Guardian
International sports, Six Nations rugby
Millenium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales (GenevaLunch) - England started their quest for the Six Nations trophy with a win in Cardiff Friday evening 4 February. Two tries by Chris Ashton and a masterful performance by stand-off Toby Flood set up a 19-26 victory that could have been greater had England maintained the pressure. In the Saturday games Ireland needed a late drop-goal by Ronan O’Gara to edge past Italy 11-13. France showed some style as they fought off a late challenge by Scotland to win 34-21. The next matches will be played on 11th and 12th February, and feature England-Italy, Scotland-Wales and Ireland-France.
Links to other sites: Six Nations, Telegraph, Guardian
Stade de France, Paris (GenevaLunch) - Saturday’s international between France and England was another game where one side tried to play attacking rugby and the other side relied on forward power and kicking penalties. The unusual feature was that it was England that scored the only try of the game, while France scored four penalties to win 12-10. The win secured the Grand Slam for France, who were already assured of the Championship.
Paris, France (GenevaLunch) - France sent out a message that their team is in fine form, and must now be favourites to win the Six Nations tournament and very likely take the Grand Slam as well. They powered past current champions Ireland with an impressive 33-10 victory. The Irish kept pace with the French for the first 20 minutes but then conceded 10 quick points when down to 14 men after a yellow card for Healy. Once France was on top they never looked back and dominated the game with a disciplined display of forward power backed up by incisive attacks.
Scotland dominated Wales for most of the match in Cardiff but then fell apart due to a combination of injuries, lack of discipline and Welsh passion. They ended the match with only 13 players, having transformed a 24-14 lead with three minutes left of normal time into a 31-24 win for the Welsh.
England play Italy in the Sunday game.
Links to other sites: Six Nations, South Wales Argus
Twickenham, London, England (GenevaLunch) - England celebrated the centenary of the famed Twickenham ground with the same result as in the first match: a victory over Wales. The single player most responsible for the result was the Welsh second row forward Alun Wyn Jones who was given a yellow card for tripping the English hooker Dylan Hartley. While he was off the field for 10 minutes England scored 17 points.
England dominated possession in the first half, taking advantage of the vulnerable Welsh line-out, but were held to 3-3 until the 35th minute. Wales fought hard to come back from the 20-3 deficit and threatened to take the lead after a fine try by James Hook.
The UK is being warned to prepare for more icy roads and freezing temperatures, with motorists being warned to stay home if possible. The bright note is that it should soon warm up but, reports the BBC, “More freezing conditions are forecast, before a weekend thaw threatens floods.”Meanwhile, the “Met” has come under fire for failing to predict early enough heavy snow that fell Wednesday 13 January, particularly in southwest Britain. Wales had drifts of up to 7 feet.
Links to other sites: BBC, Telegraph, UK Meteorology Office
Twickenham, London, England (GenevaLunch) - England played better than in recent matches, holding the All Blacks to 6-6 at half time but could not match the New Zealanders in the second half and lost 6-19. At least the England women beat the New Zealand Ferns.
Scotland pulled off a surprise 9-8 victory over Australia where their heart was just enough to hold out against the technically better Wallabies. It was their first win against the Aussies for 27 years. Wales beat Argentina 33-16 with two tries by Shane Williams.
Links to other sites: The Guardian, The Times
The UK weather service has told Britain to expect heavy rain Thursday and Friday, accompanied by widespread flooding in northwest England and southwest Scotland. A tidal surge in the Irish Sea could spell flooding in and north of Aberystwyth, Wales and gusting up to 70 miles per hour in some areas could add to the weather woes.
Twickenham, London, England and Cardiff, Wales (GenevaLunch) - England lost to the Wallabies 9-18 despite the return of Jonny Wilkinson and a much improved performance in the line-outs. Wilkinson scored all the England points and put in some crunching defensive tackles but the England team was short of offensive ideas and was dominated in the second half. The star player for the Australians was their young scrum-half Will Genia.
In the other big rugby union match the New Zealand All Blacks extended their undefeated record against Wales, who last beat the New Zealanders in 1953.
Cardiff, Wales, UK (GenevaLunch) – England just survived to seize a draw in the First Test of the series, and the first to be played in Wales. Australia dominated most of the match with a massive 674-6 in response to England’s 435.
(GenevaLunch) – Wales had a comfortable 13-26 win over Scotland in their opening match of the Six Nations tournament on Sunday.
